Transcript: Jim Boeheim's NCAA Tournament Selection Press Conference

Syracuse was selected as an 11-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and will face San Diego State in the first round. Here is everything Jim Boeheim said in the press conference after the field's announcement.

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DOES THIS SELECTION MEAN A BIT MORE GIVEN THE CONTEXT OF THE SEASON?

"Yeah I think so," Boeheim said. "I think it does. I mean, we were in a tough position. We put ourselves in a tough position early in the year. Some of the pauses hurt our development a little bit. Really, Bourama going out early and then the pauses really hurt our shooting, I thought. We really struggled shooting, which we thought would be a strong point for us. The grit and determination of these guys to win the Bryant game and to comeback against Buffalo, and Northeastern, really. Without those games, we wouldn't be in the conversation. We'd already be planning for next year. Those games were in doubt, serious doubt, and the way these guys came together and finished those games was amazing. Then after we lost to Pittsburgh, the two games with Pittsburgh, it was a low part of the season. It was every reason for the negativity to come out. Nobody thought we were going to be anywhere. Maybe not even make it to the NIT at that stage. So given that backdrop of where we were then, I thought we started to turn it around a little bit with the Miami game. The Virginia Tech game was one of our best games. We still had a couple slips after that where we ran into, obviously a Virginia, Clemson, North Carolina. Those places are tough to win. But it all came down to the last part of the season. We had to beat North Carolina, a team we've only beaten once out of 10, something like that. And they were playing pretty well at the time. That was a huge win. Then to beat Clemson and go back down to the ACC Tournament, not just win against NC State but to play so well. They'd won five in a row. To dominate them the way we did, I'm sure the committee, they're there and they're kind of watching that game.

"They're starting their deliberations. I thought that was a big positive and then the way we played against Virginia. Watching the Virginia tape, I was really unbelievably pleased with our offense in that game against that team. Our defense I thought we did some of the worst things defensively all year. They were just little things, but little things that cost us the game. Five or six things that we usually don't do. I think we're in a good place. I think Jesse's improvement has really helped. I think he's shown signs even in practice lately of being better. I think that Robert's play has been promising. Obviously Alan is coming off his worst game, and he knows. He had a good practice today. I think Joe is playing much better. Kadary is hurt a little bit, but he will be able to play. He'll be able to practice this week. He's got some tendinitis, that's all. I think, certainly by Friday we should be at full strength. We've got a real tough draw. I've seen San Diego State play a couple times. Really good shooting team. They shoot it well from three. They're really good. If they were in a major conference they'd win a lot of games and they'd probably be a higher seed. So it's a real tough challenge for us. But from where we were, we're happy to have the challenge ahead of us. Very happy."

DO NERVES KICK IN WATCHING THE SELECTION SHOW?

"I wasn't as worried as a couple of times we've been on the bubble, we seem to be getting indications. When Joe Lunardi puts us up there we must be OK because he never does. I felt a little bit better. Then as it went on and Georgia Tech was a 10, I was a little worried. Yeah, I was worried. If you're not in it you can't win any games."

EXPECTATIONS FOR MAREK'S ABILITY TO PRACTICE?

"Marek can do everything except use his left hand."

WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF SAN DIEGO STATE?

"Both teams have enough time to prepare for the game. They're big, they're very athletic, they shoot very well. They're one of the tougher teams you can draw in the tournament. There are some teams that are big but don't shoot very well, or don't defend. They defend at a high level. They shoot it at a high level. They're one of the better shooting teams that we've seen this year as a team. They have a guy shooting in the high 40s, they shoot 37 percent as a team from the three. I don't think you can get a harder matchup. But, we're happy to be playing."

HAVE YOU SEEN SAN DIEGO STATE GO UP AGAINST ZONE THIS YEAR?

"I've only seen them briefly on TV. We'll have tapes for them tomorrow and we'll get a good look. Like I said, they shoot it well. They're big. They're a very good rebounding team. They're good. They're good against anything, against any defense."

WERE THERE ANY NERVES AFTER THE VIRGINIA POSITIVE TEST?

"We're fine. Everybody's negative. We had the chips so none of our players were exposed for more than 48 seconds, something like that. So we knew we were in a good position as far as that goes."